🚢 Plastic in the Pacific Ocean can be cleaned up in ten years, according to Ocean Cleanup

• The Ocean Cleanup foundation has shown that all plastic in the Pacific Ocean can be removed within 10 years for $7.5 billion.
• The organization has already removed over 450 metric tons of trash from the central parts of the Pacific Ocean over the past three years.
• Data and modeling indicate that the cleanup could even be completed in 5 years for $4 billion.

Technology for cleaning the ocean now ready for large-scale deployment

After six years of development and three years of extraction operations, Ocean Cleanup has demonstrated that it is possible to eliminate plastic accumulations in the central parts of the Pacific Ocean. The organization recently returned to San Francisco with its System 03, a technology created to remove plastic from ocean gyres.

Over the past three years, Ocean Cleanup has removed more than 450 tons of trash from the most polluted areas in the Pacific Ocean. This corresponds to 0.5 percent of the total accumulated trash in the area. Based on these results and future operations, data and modeling show that the problem can be solved within a decade, at a cost of $7.5 billion.

But it could be done faster. With optimized methods, calculations indicate that the cleanup could be completed in 5 years for $4 billion.

This is the first time that both a cost and a timeline have been presented for cleaning the Pacific Ocean of this environmental threat.

Calls for global action

Ocean Cleanup now calls on the world - governments, companies, individuals, and foundations - to prioritize the solution of this important environmental problem. The organization emphasizes that cleaning the world's oceans should become a global priority.

Boyan Slat, founder and CEO of Ocean Cleanup, says: "We have shown the world that the impossible is now possible. The only missing thing is who will ensure this job gets done."

Future plans

During 2025, Ocean Cleanup plans to take a one-year operational break to implement a new initiative. The goal is to map "hotspots," areas with intense plastic accumulation in the central parts of the Pacific Ocean, to make future extractions more effective.

Here you can donate money to Ocean Cleanup or otherwise engage with the organization.

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